January 27th, 2009
First off, sorry for the long delay in between postings. I had a trip to Denmark on KEROSENE business that kept me from the blog for a bit.
Secondly, sorry there’s so few photos in this post. I’m collecting stuff from everyone, including some good video bits, and will post stuff as I get it.
However, here’s a shot Dave took from the plane to set the scene:
Yes, it was the week of the big freeze here in Chicago. It just so happened that the four days the guys were in town were the coldest days I’ve ever seen. Ever. -35 below (with windchill) at it’s worst. Perfect weather for staying cooped up in a recording studio for 12 hour a day:)
PREGAME : High of 13˚
The guys arrived Wednesday night at the KEROSENE offices shortly after 5 and after hugs and handshakes we headed over to Shirk’s for a short reunion and a tour of the studio. From there we all headed over to Schubas Tavern near my place for some dinner and reminiscing.
Things were pretty much the same since the last time we got together:) John and I debated politics and his ultra-liberal to my moderate-liberal discrepancies; we got filled in on Dave’s love life and the trials of his continuing battle to balance his music and computer career…. same ‘ol John and Dave. No music talk that night (that I can remember)… just catching up, a few beers (tea for Dave, as usual) and easy conversation.
DAY 1 : High of 7˚
We met around 10am at Shirk’s and jumped right into working on drum sounds. As with most things this time out, everything went much faster than I’d remembered. Dave was set up and Shirk had gotten the kit sounding great in under an hour. Before I knew it, we were tracking “Flora”.
We decided to track John and Dave separately for most of these session tracks. Since the material was so new to both the guys, we all agreed that tracking the two voices independently would give them a little more freedom to experiment and hone the parts while we recorded. I assumed there would be a little writing on the fly….
However, once we started, it was a moot point… the first tune coulnd’t have gone smoother. Dave was really on point right out of the gate. He’d clearly rehearsed this one and got his part in place relatively fast, within 2-3 hours. After a few hours, John jumped it and, in usual Johnny-Ace form, he locked in the part in just over an hour. I think Shirk will agree, there are few bass players we know as good in the studio (and out) as John. Rock solid focus and impeccable taste.
“Flora” was in the bag.
After a brief lunch we moved onto “Wedding Song”…
This went even better than “Flora”, and I think we were all knocked out at how well this song was turning out, even in it’s raw un-mixed state…. the trio blends really nicely here. John and Dave both knocked there parts out quickly, by 10pm we were closing up shop and heading home for the night.
Day one was great! Stress free… looked like it was gonna be a breeze.
DAY 2: high of -1˚
Well, as the deep cold set it, the sessions became more challenging. I won’t lie… Day 2 was a struggle.
Over the last few weeks, I’d been telling the guys how I thought “Spinning On”, besides potentially being the title track of the record, was the standout tune of the set. It’s probably the most catchy, upbeat tune on the record, and the song’s message really defines where I’m at in my life right now. Perhaps a little too much pressure?
Drums took some time. There was a lot of refining and re-taking, and section-by-section taking (which we know is never a good idea.) Shirk was sounding pretty sick too, to the point where I took over all the producing so he could rest his voice. To top it off, we had to break mid-day for a PR interview with a local magazine that’s doing a piece on KEROSENE.
By about 9pm, we were just finishing bass parts, and I think we were all irritable, frustrated, and just plain spent. We listened back to the progress so far, and I hated ALL OF IT, even the stuff we did the day before. So at this point, even though I had set a 2-song per day recording schedule, we called it a night.
What I had forgotten was…. this happens!! In all the years I’ve worked in the studio, it’s never a breeze and it’s USUALLY frustrating. It was a good smack in the face for me, and I think helped keep things focused on Day 3.
Day 3: high of -3˚
Yes, it got COLDER. But Day 3 was the highlight:)
We arrived at noon (some rest was needed after the night before) and started tracking a new song that I wrote just before I left for the holiday in December. The writing of it had come together very very quickly, and the drums and bass fell into place just as fast. In 3 hours, it was locked, and things were looking up!
We moved onto “Taking Time” next, one of my favorites on the new album. After some noodling, Shirk and Dave found an incredible drum sound for the kick and toms… with some massive, MSG verb that really heightens the emotional peak of the song. John quickly layered in a simple complimentary bass part, and we were done.
Holy crap! We’d made up the lost time… I thought we might actually pull this off.
After a quick dinner, we set up for “The Knowledge Tree”. This was the first song I’d ever written, back in art school when I first picked up Steve Steigbigel’s crappy Squire electric and began teaching myself how to play. The three of us had performed this song SO many times… so Shirk changed the set up for live tracking. I was in the control room on a scratch mic, playing electric DI so that the guys had a reference point. John and Dave were in the main room, all listening on headphones, playing simultaneously.
IT WAS A BLAST.
After all the stop-and-start tracking and nit picking, it was so nice to plug-in with the guys and just PLAY! This is the part we always enjoyed most (and excelled at best I think), and it flowed like wine.
We tracked the song from beginning to end 10 times…. each version having a little character of it’s own. Some of the best playing we’ve done together….
by 10:30 pm, we’d gotten all 3 tunes in the can – an extremely productive day, and headed out for the night.
DAY 4: high of 4˚
Well, the temperature was slowly beginning to climb back up as the session were coming to a close. We had 7 hours and 1 song to track, so I had no doubt we’d be in great shape.
And we were. We tracked parts for “Mystified and Bruised”, which the guys hadn’t really had a chance to prepare for at all, and in the end, it’s one of my favorite tracks from the 4 days. Fresh, vibrant, and smart. Can’t wait for you all to hear.
Before we all left, we kicked back and listened to all the work we’d accomplished in that short span of time. Low and behold, days 1 and 2 actually sounded great and all the newest stuff was as solid as we’d remembered.
Big thanks to John and Dave for sticking it out and delivering the goods. And thanks to you for reading this huge blog post. As I said, I’ll be posting photos, video and audio samples from the stint as soon as I get em.
Shirk and I will start mixing and tracking vocals next week. Stay tuned.
PJ
|
BLOG
WHAT IS NUMBER3?
